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-— °*-TWELVE PAGES_,_WILMINGTON, N. C., FRIDAY, APRIL 3, 1942 FINAL EDITION ESTABLISHED 1867.
BATAAN LINE
IS PIERCED
BY JAPANESE
Offensive Is Checked By
Fierce U. S. - Filipino
Counter-Attack
ENEMY UNITS TRAPPED
Anti-Aircraft Gunners At
Corregidor Destroy
Three Jap Planes
3v EDWARD E. BOMAR
WASHINGTON, April 2.—
(IP)—A savage onslaught by
Japanese assault troops suc
ceeded today in penetrating
the defense line on Bataan
peninsula before the invaders
were halted by a fierce Amer
ican-Filinino counter attack.
The War department re
ported reassuringly, however,
that the line was restored,
and a “considerable number”
of enemy units trapped. These ]
were being mopped up late in
the day. Lieutenant General
Jonathan M. Wainwright ad
ricod,
TT«ori; i-v-i tVi nioti.o ir oroft rtnn.
ners of Correcidor fortress off the
southern end of Bataan destroyed
Ihrei Japanese heavy bombers
and a fourth bomber blew up in
mid-air.
The attack wh'ch penetrated the
defe'de. s’ main hne was the sec
ond launched in 24 hours, a late ■
day communique said. The first,
made near the center, was readily (
mastered by heavy artillery fire
ar.d counterattacks which re
gained outposts that had been
abandoned to the foe.
The second, launched about ten
a/n. was directed against the left
center cf Gene’al Wainwright’s
line Supported by a heavy con
centration of artillery fire, the Jap- '
anese assault troops advanced
dangerously, the War Department
made clear, before the spearhead
of the assault was smashed by a
counter-attack which fapped the
advance forces.
Line Restored
“Our main line of resistance has
been restored and the enemy ad
vance halted,” the communique
repo -ted adding that while Japa
nese losses were, heavy, the de
fenders' casualties were ‘‘surpris
ingly small.”
Tine onslaughts were the second
(Continued on Pace Three; Col. 4)
MISPLACED
FOR 33 VESSELS
Maritime Commission Com
pletes Awards For Great
est Building Program
WASHINGTON, April 2 —(Li
ft warding of contracts for history’s
greatest shipbuilding program —
2 300 freighters and tankers of
23.000,000 deadweight tons in two
years — was completed today by
the Maritime commission.
Final contract in the vast pro
gram was for a new six-way ship
yard at Panama City. Fla., where
the J. A. Jones Construction com
pany. Charlotte, N. C.. will build
33 emergency freighters of the
L'bertv ship design.
While the 1942 goal remains
2 000.000 deadweight tons, the 1943
goal has been increased from 10.
000.000 tons, the figure established
" President Roosevelt immediate
F' after Pearl Harbor, to 15.000.
000 tons.
The 23,000,000-ton program for
the two-year period does not in
clude more than 700 other craft
nnder commission order, such as
Wes. wooden barges and small
Pcrer boats.
Present schedules call for the
delivery of about 750 ships in 1942
and the remainder next year. De
hvery of ships reached a one-a
day basis in February, but the
Program calls for an average of
three a day over the two-year
Period. Peak production, the com
mission said, is expected to be
rc .' ohed late’ this year.
Of the merchant vessels under
contract, 1,511'are of the Liberty
-hip design. Designed for mass
Production, this emergency freight
er has a capacity of 10.500 dead
’ eight tons. Tanker contracts call
1r>r 313 vessels. The remaining
’ essels on the program are of va
rious “C” designs, which the com
mission regards as the finest mer
errnt ships ever constructed.
!he Liberty ships were designed
P: warily for war-time emergency
while the standard design
r vessels are intended as re
)*;• cements for obsplete ships now
Is th« American merchant marine.
Soldier Puts Life
Savings Into Bonds
To Help Fight War
FORT SILL, Okla., April 2.
—(/P)—Sgt. Owen P. Chuculate
walked into his battery orderly
room today, planked down $2,00(1
in cold cash, and said he wanted
to buy some U. S. Defense
Bonds.
“I feel that everything put in
Defense Bonds gives a soldier
that much more to do with,-’ he
told his battery commander.
Capt. W. G. Lucey. “What I
put in today might mean the
difference between whether I
live or die later on.”
Sergeant Chuculate, who has
been in the Army five years,
said the money represented his
savings.
COMPROMISE SEEN
ON INDIA FREEDOM
’resence Of Japanese Only
100 Miles Away May
Hasten Action
By The Associated Press
NEW DELHI, India. Apr. 2 —
J)—With Japanese invaders report
ed barely 100 miles from the Ben
gal border, the pressing problem
of India’s fighting participation in
She war appeared tonight to have
leen saved from a cold stalemate
ly indications of willingness to
romoromise on details of the in
lependei'.ce issue
The executive committee of ’he
lowtrfui all-India congress party
■ejected, point by point, Britain’s
offer of post-war dominion sta us
in return for full war participation
mder British direction, but it was
reported to have advanced is own
lounter proposals which might
;eep the discussions going.
Sir Stafford Cripps. special envoy
who brought! Britain’s offer
to India, changer! his mind about
eaving for home next Monday. He
leclared. instead, that “I think I
ran possibly do something useful
iext week.”
He had before him already the
previous rejections of Britain’s
(Continued on Page Two; Col. 6)
-V
Chile Not Planning
Break With The Axis
SANTIAGO, Chile, April 2——
President Juan Antonio Rios indi
rated in his inaugural address to
n’ght that the new administration
if Chile plans no immediate dip
lomatic break with the Axis.
He hinted that he would make
the break only if “the national
will” calls for it.
Then the twenty-first president
if the republic promised that Chile
would “faithfully carry out her
duties of continental solidarity.”
JapsMayOpen
Attest By Sea
/^dcted 1 o switch
Since Losing Air
upenority In south
DARWIN BOMBED ANEW
No Damage Or Casualties
Reported In Communi
que After Attack
MELBOURNE, April 2— (A>)—'The
Japanese bombed the northern
port of Darwin today for the elev
enth time, but their loss of air
superiority in this theater of war
led to predictions that their next
move might be a sea-borne attack
on Pert Moresby, key city of New
Guinea.
A brief communique from the
office of Prime Minister John Cur
tin said that seven bombers with
fighter escorts conducted the Dar
win raid but that no damage or
casualties were reported and that
the action was the only one re
ported in the entire area of the
war southwst Pacific.
The probability that the Japa
nese will switch to a sea thrust at
Port Moresby, less than 300 miles
from the Australian mainland, was
raised by the Sydney Sun. It said
that with heavy rains halting the
Japanese drive overland from the
north New Guinea coast and with
the American and Australian
forces having won at least tem
porary air superiority, a resort to
naval action was “suggested by
recent movements of enemy ships,
which are constantly being at
tacked at Lae and Salamaua by
the Allied air forces.”
Get Reinforcements
The paper warned, however, that
the Japanese were obtaining aerial
reinforcements “which must be de
scribed as considerable,” and that
“the air supremacy we have
gained may not be permanent and
at most will dislocate the Japa
nese plans only temporarily.”
The increasing American aid to
Australia was regarded as likely
to cause the Japanese to hasten
their attack plans.
(A London brodcast quoting
Sydney messages said the Ameri
can and Australian fliers had de
stroyed or crippled 96 Japanese
planes since March 10 at a cost of
only 12 of their own planes, of
which five crews were saved.
(The Australian radio reported
from Darwin that the red ball was
being emoved from the insignia fo
U. -S. planes to avoid any possible
confusion with the red emblem of
Japan. This would leave the U. S.
planes with a white star on a blue
field.)
Making Use of Time
That the Australians and Ameri
cans are making use of the time
for big-scale preparations also was
indicated by Air Minister Arthur
S. Drakeford.
He said Ameicans were helping
to switch royal Australian air
force pilots from trainer planes to
fast combat craft in a tremendous
(Continued on Page Three; Col. 2)
■i . — .-.in. ■■■
Today an d Tomorrow
_BY WALTER LIPPMANN -
The Blockade of America
It is clear to every one who
knows the situation, and very
clear indeed to our enemies, tnat
our critical weakness is no longer
in the production of war materials
but in transportation. We are able
to raise armies and to make weap
ons much faster than we can move
them, and in the present phase of
the war—the year 1942—the whole
effort of our enemies is, so tar
as v. e are concerned, d i r e c t ed
against our internal and our ex
term.; system of transportation.
This is the net effect of Jap
anese strategy against the United
States. The blow at Pearl Harbor,
the seizure of Wake and Guam,
the blockade oi the Philippines
have cut us off from the direct
route to the Far East The Jap
anese threat to Australia is in all
likelihood designed to force us to
invest shipping and naval power
in an immensely long and strat
egically unprofitable line of sea
communications The Japanese
conquest of the oil of the East
Indies affects us in that it com
pels us to carty oil across the
vast spaces of the Ptr ific. The
conquest of the rubber territory
is a paralyzing blow at our in
ternal system or transportation
The anti-American strategy of
the Nazis is, for the present, also
aimed at our transpor'.ation. The
submarine war m the Caribbean,
in our coastaj waters, and in the
Atlantic i" designed not only to
destroy ships but also to slow up
shipping, and to lerrorize the sea
men of all the American republics.
* * *
Since transportation is now the
crucial problem, we must, look to
see who is cnarged with it. What
do we find? We find here, as ear
lier in the battle of production,
divided authority Thus we have,
just in recent days achieved, it
would appear, scene unity of naral
and arrny command in the pro
tection of shipping. For the man
agement of shipping we have the
War Shipping Administration and
we have the Army Transports and
we I'.ave the Na /y transports. For
the construction ot transport ships
we have the Maritime Commis
sion And for internal transporta
tion by rail, track, inland water
ways, automobile and air we 'have
any number 01 separate authorities.
It is not evident that we very
much need a supreme war trans
portation boaid with a director ex
ercising at least as much power
as Mr. j'Jelson exercises over pro
duction? For transportation should
be dealt with as a whole—not only
all ships in a common pool so as
to obtain the maximum service
from each ship but all other means
of moving men a id goods as well.
Only an over-all authority can, for
example decide efficiently how
much oil for the eastern seaborad
should be carried in tankers or in
railroad tank cars, or how far it
would be possible to go, by re
ducing railroad and truck freight
carried for civilians, in reducing
the demands on war shipping.
Considering the importance of
transpoif ation, it can safely be
said that the supreme director
ought to sit as an equal in the
inner war council along with Ad
miral King and General Marshall.
* * *
There is another reason, besides
thess logical reasons, why we very
(Continued on Page Pour; Col. 1) I
Carrier Boy Shot
In Shoulder While
Hunting Rat Here
Jesse C. Rogers, 17, of the
Summer Hill section is in a
critical condition at James
Walker Memorial hospital fol
following a '“rat-hunt” during
which he was accidentally shot
through the right shoulder by
his small brother, about 7:15
o’clock Thursday morning.
According to Rogers’ mother,
a younger brother took a .22
caliber rifle out to a barn near
the house to conduct a “rat
hunt.” Jesse followed him, and
a few minutes later the rifle
accidental'y discharged, the bul
let striking Jesse in the
shoulder.
He was taken to James
Walker Memoria’ hospital at
7:40 o'clock Thursday morning
and a few hours later a blood
transfusion was necessary in
order that an operation be
performed.
Hospital attaches > revealed
that the bullet had “nicked” the
jugular vein, causing a slow,
steady flow Of blood from
young Rogers.
The young man was a Star
News carrier boy.
WARPLANEOUTPUT
BELOW TOP SPEED
Senate Committee Blames
Poor Planning On Con
ditions Reported
WASHINGTON. April 2.— (ffl—
Tlie Senate Defense Investigating
committee, bian.mg the situation
on poor planning, reported today
that waiplane assembly lines in
some of the bigger factories were
operating below top speed because
vital parts were not ready on time.
In a formal report to the senate, *
the committee said a subcommi
tee whicn recently visited the West
coast had found that the fault lay
largely in he governmen’s failure
to bring about expansion of the
facilities of upwards of 4,000 sub
contractors who supply parts.
*‘A poor job of over-all planning,
from aluminum ingets to finished
aircraft, by the armed services
and the old OP.'.T (Office of Pro
ducl on Management) must#
blamed for the situation ” the com
mittee said. "The usual red tape
and delays in making contracts
also were partly responsible.”
Commenting that it had been in
formed the war production board
"still does not have a single *op
noted aircraft production man in
its setup.” the committee reccom
mended that the production agency
formed the War Production Board
draft one immediately.
Furthermore, it urged that “in
stead of wasting its energies on a
generalized piea for ‘all out pro
ducin’ which has confused man
agement, labor and the public, ..he
WPB concentrate its efforts on
breaking those bottlenecks which
are, in the aii craft industry to the
committee’s certain knowledge
and probably in other fields, really
holding up oeak production.”
Employes in most' West coast
plants, the committee reported,
were working 48 hours a week and
only one employe." advocated mod
ification of ttie 40-hour week law
under which workers receive time
and a half pay for all work in ex
cess of that period.
Discussing tne production ot
aluminum and magnesium, the
committee recommended that the
defense plants corporation reject
a proposal by the Basic Magnesi
um, Inc , at Las '/egas, N. M.,
that the government pay $1 a ton
royalty, plus the costs of quar
rying, for ores from the company’s
deposits. It «aid nearby quarries
were be:ng leased for 25 cents a
ton royalty.
“This proposed lease appears to
the subcommittee as one of the
most flagrant attempts at war
profiteering to come to its notice,”
the report said.
Summing up its inquiry into the
construction oi several magnesium
and aluminum punts with govern
ment aid, the report continued:
"Evidence gatiiered by the sub
committee indicated there is still
something seriously wrong in the
light metals section of the War
Production Board successor of the
old OPM section which failed so
(Continued on Page Five; Col. 5)
WEATHER
NORTH CAROLINA and SOUTH
CAROLINA—Continued mild with
slightly higher temperatures Fri
day.
(Meteorological data for ihe 24 hours
ending 7:30 p. m. yesterday):
(By U. S. Weather Bureau)
Temperature:
1:30 a. m. 46; 7:30 a. m. 42; 1:30
p. m. 63; 7:30 p. in. 55; maximum 64;
minimum 40; mean 52; normal 58.
Humidity:
1:30 a. m. 57; 7:30 a. m. 65; 1:30
p. m. 31; 7:30 p. m. 50.
Precipitation:
Total for the 24 hours ending 7:30
p. m., 0.00 inches: total since the first
of the month, 0.00 inches.
Tides For Today:
(From Tide Tables published by U.
S. Coast and Geodetic Survey):
High Low
Wilmington-11:14a. 6:07a.
11:46p. 6:18p.
Masonboro Inlet 9:01a. 3:02a.
9:32p. 3:12p.
Sunrise 5:57a; sunset 6:34p; moonrise
9:llp; moonset 11:34a.
Cape Fear river stage at Fayette
ville at 8 a. m., April 2, 12.35 feet.
(Continued on Pago Three; Col. 7)
Plan Offered
To Conscript
Labor Forces
Hillman Proposes 14-Point
Plan To Mobilize Men,
Women For Work
TRANSFERS PERMITTED
Director Says 8,000,000
More War Workers Will
Be Needed This Year
WASHINGTON, Apr. 2— UP! —A
14-point plan to mobilize men and
women for work in war industries,
including government power to
transfer workers from one factory
to another, was laid before the
Senate Labor Committee today by
Sidney Hillman, labor director of
the War Production Board who
said 8,000,000 more war workers
would be needed this year.
Consolidation of all federal de
fense training agencies under a
unified command also was part of
the program, and some members
of the committee promptly told
Hillman that he should be t he
generalissimo in charge of recruit
ing. training ar.d placing defense
workers.
“You asked for it,” said Sena
tor McKellar (D-Tenn).
Hillman, on leave from the pres
idency of the Amalgamated Cloth
ing Workers (.CIO), made the plan
public after he was questioned
about it during a hearing on Me
Kellar’s bill to abolish the National
Youth Administration and the Ci
vilian Conservation Corps, a pro
posal which Hillman opposed. II
was not made clear whether Hill
man was the author of the pro
gram, or what other officials may
have endorsed. It is understood
however, that a proposal of this
nature has been submitted to Pres
ident Roosevelt.
The NYA, Hillman contended
Was- serving a useful purpose by
training defense workers. He is ?
member of the NYA’s advisory
committee.
“The manpower training pro
gram cannot afford the delay
which will result if we slow down
or stop one cf our training agen
cies and transfer the important
load it carries to another organ
ization,” he said.
President Roosevelt already has
gone on record in opposition to
McKellar’s bill and today, in ob
servance of the CCC’s ninth an
niversary, he declared “there is
a real place for the CCC during
this emergency and it will be call
ed upon more and more to per
(Continueil on Page Two; Col. 2)
U. S. PLACESBAN
ON BICYCLE SALES
No More Will Be Sold Pend
ing Establishment Of
Rationing System
WASHINGTON, April 2.—(JP)—A
public stampede to buy bicycles
against the day when auto"tires
wear out prompted the War Produc
tion board tonight to ban the sale,
shipment, delivery or transfer of
new adult bikes pending the estab
lishment of a rationing system.
The “freezing” order was made
effective at 11:59 p. m.. Eastern
War Time, tonight, and the ration
ing system will be designed to put
bicycles in the possession of defense
workers first of all.
This was only one of several or
ders today affecting the consumer.
In others, the WPB ruled out cer
tain tin-plated bottle caps and
fluorescent lighting fixtures for
non-essential uses and gave notice
that civilian use of copper would
soon be further curtailed.
The oi'der forbidding future Pro
duction of fluorescent lighting fix
tures except under top-rated priority
orders allowed manufacturers 20
days in which to fill other orders
on which work already has started.
An immediate halt was called to
production of tin-plated caps for
bottles containing ketchup and chile
sauce, and for glass containers used
in home preserving. After four
weeks, manufacture of such caps
for bfer and soft drink bottles must
be stopped as well as production of
tin-plated covers for glass contain
ers for candy, peanut butter, cof
fee, tea, dry spices and some other
products.
Officials explained that manufac
turers could niake the bottle caps
from the steel plate ordinarily used
but without the tin plating.
Civilian use of copper in the next
three months will be cut to a rate
60 percent under consumption in
1940—the last normal year—because
af greatly increased estimates of
needs of the armed forces.
Announcing this, William L.
Batt, head of the War Productiqn
board’s requirements committee, said
that the direct military and ship
(ContlauAd an Fare Three; Col. 5)
SOVIETS KILL 22,000
NAZIS ON LENINGRAD
AND KALININ FRONTS
—— " ---- - - w
Stop At Through Streets 1
(An Editorial)
Through streets were designated to overcome some
jamming of traffic at peak hours. Because the heaviest
traffic flows east and west, the streets chosen for relief i
were Chestnut, Princess, Dock and Orange. Throughout
their length from Third to Seventeenth, except where J
traffic lights are installed, stop signs have been placed at
the curb in plain sight of drivers.
The fact that through streets were set up was fully
exploited in the press and by radio. The driving public was
cautioned to note the change in rules and urged to stop
voluntarily at intersections so designated.
Yet, despite this wide publicity, it is a regrettable fact 1
many drivers of motor cars and trucks continue to speed
across through streets, in many cases even without slow
ing down.
All drivers guilty of this offense are not only creating
an unnecessary accident hazard for vehicles with right of
way but seriously jeopardizing their own safety.
Yesterday afternoon at about 2 o’clock, a woman driver
sped across Princess at 17th in complete disregard of the
stop sign and in violation of the law, to the great danger
of a car moving west on Princess. An accident was nar
rowly escaped, thanks to good brakes.
A few minutes later another car crossing Princess at
10th without stopping was within an ace of colliding with
the same car that had skirted the hazard of 17th street.
At 5th and Orange a service truck was seen to cross
Orange at fully 50 miles an hour.
These are but a few examples of what is going on.
Perhaps the new rule has been in effect so short a
time that drivers generally have not had time to assimilate
it. If this is the case, it is not to be condoned. Unless there
is immediate improvement, the city authorities would be
justified—are. in fact, to be encouraged—to assign officers
in prowl cars to patrol the through streets constantly and
place all offenders under arrest.
This was done on Water street when the law prohibiting
parking and two-way traffic there was not quickly obeyed,
with excellent results. Equal good could be expected on
Ghestnut, Princess, Dock and Orange if the same remedy
(was applied.
14 Nazi Planes Shot
Down In Malta Attack
——————— W__ _ _
British Say 13 Others Pos
sibly Destroyed In Ter
rific Assault
VALLETTA, Malta, April 2—(,Ti
The Germans in a persistent dawn
to-dawn attack begun yesterday
morning lost a total of 27 planes de
stroyed, probably destroyed or dam
aged, the heaviest losses ever suf
fered in a 24-hour period over Malta,
the British announced in their com
munique tonight.
Jn the peak period of steadily in
tensifying German assaults on this
British Mediterranean island strong
hold the Germans certainly lost 14
planes, the communique said, and
the additional 13 were “probably de
stroyed and damaged.”
Raiders appeared before dawn
Wednesday and were over the island
continuously until about daybreak
this morning.
In defending Malta the British
sent up the heaviest anti-aircraft
barrage yet heard by the hardy
Maltese who daily through nearly
2,000 raids already have witnessed
some of the bitterest air fighting and
heaviest bombing of the war.
Throughout the attacks there
were no RAF losses, the communi
que said.
The Germans, after their terrific
losses, returned only for scattered
raids today, and all were slight.
DALADIER MAY ASK
5TH COLUMN PROBE
Former French Premier
Rises In His Defense As
Trial Is Recessed
By MEL MOST
RIOM, Unoccupied Fran ce.
April 2 —UP)— Former Premier
Edouard Daladie'- lumrelf on trial
with four other one time political
and military leaders of France,
declared today ne might ask ior
an investigation of “a Fifth Col
umn of fake intellectuals who cre
ated a deleterious atmosphere in
the country."
Thus Dalac'ier, the most out
spoken of the defendants, got in
the last word of the i'6th sitting
of the specia1 tribunal named by
Chief of State marshal Petain to
determine the guilt for France's
defeat in 1940.
Following Daladier's statement,
presiding Judge Pierre Caous ad
journed the 'our: until 1:30 pin.,
April 14, to allow for the Easter
holidays, as he announced.
(A Vichy message las' week said
(Continued on Page Two; Col. 5)
Japs Within 100 Miles
Of The Indian Frontier
(By The Associated Press)
LONDON, April 2.—Japanese
troops protected by cruisers and
destroyers have landed at Akyab,
the chief western Burma port with
in 100 miles of the Indian frontier,
and thus have raised a menace to
the whole of the present right Al
lied Burmese line, a Chinese army
spokesman announced today in
Chungking.
British and Chinese communi
ques indicated meantime that ac
tion afield in central Burma had
fallen into a lull on both the right
and left Allied anchors, the one
about Prome on the Irrawaddy riv
er and the other above Tcungoo
in the basin of the Sittang.
The report of the enemy’s Ak
yab' landing raised the gravest of
prospects.
Between Akyab and the Irra
waddy basin a mountain range in
tervenes, but a trail leads from
the city across the mountains of
Minbu, 100 miles north of Prome
and only 20 miles below the cen
i V
ter of the Burma oil fields at Yen
angyaung.
A heavy enemy flanking move
ment over that trail, it was point
ed out, might soon make indefensi
ble the present British positions
about Prome, aside from putting
the oil fields in imminent danger.
The enemy Naval forces report
ed to have effected the Akyab
landings were presumed to have
operatd either from fallen Pinn
goon or from the recently seized
Andaman islands in the Bay of
Bengal.
The Chinese spokesman said the
enemy units comprised two heavy
cruisers, three light cruisers, five
detroyers, four transports and
two supply., ships.
Fom the Prome front, the Brit
ih command reported no substan
tial change since yesterday and
said there had been none other
than patrol action.
Already outnumbered, the Brit
ish forces—English and Scottish
troops and some Indians—were
(Continued on Pare Two; Col. 1) j
leds Carry Out Violent
Prelude To Hitler’s
Threatened Drive
VRMS ALSO DESTROYED
Series Of Successes An
nounced By Reds After
Days Of Silence
(By The Associated Press)
^ MOSCOW, Friday, April 3.
rhe Russians announced offi
cially today that more than
22,000 Germans had been
killed in the Leningrad and
Kalinin sectors in a violent
Red prelude to Adolf Hitler’s
threatening spring attempt to
smash the Soviet Union.
Twelve thousand Nazis
were slain in the Leningrad
area between March 23 and
March 31, a special communi
que said. A regular commu
nique issued at noon yester
day said that 3,000 Germans
had been killed in the last two
days, indicating the growing
ferocity of the battles around
the approaches to that impor
tant Baltic city.
O i the Kalinin or northwestern
front between I ake Ilmen and
Rzhev, 1he Russians said, 10 000
moit; Nazi dead were counted be
twe.i March 21 and April 1. It is
in this area, at Staraya Russa,
that the Russians have been stead
ily cutting down ,he encircled lfUh
Nazi army desp'te vast numbers
of German reserves thrown
against the Red cordon.
After days of official silence, <he
Russians issued a series of com
murhques listing an enormous haul
of German booty captured or de
stroyed.
Among the Items reported de
stroyed on both fron.s were 58
Nazi airplanes. 642 ammunition
and supply trucks, 108 irench mor
tars, 39 tanks, 150 guns and ma
chine - guns. ■' i x ammunition
dumps, one food warehouse, and a
great number of blockhouses and
reinforced Nazi dugoutv.
Heavy haul
The Russians listed this haul in
captured m a t e r i al; seventeen
tanks and armo>ed cars, 515 ma
chine guns, 86 trench mortars; 62
guns; 1.347,300 rounds of ammuni
tion: 9,000 shells and 158 cases of
shells: 1R5 trucks; 17 motorcycles;
5,30.1 hand grenades and 54 cases
of grenades; 11.300 horses; 3,000
flares; 300 pairs of skns, eight oil
(Continued on Page Two; ;Col. 4)
RAF IS BAC OVER
PARIS FACTORIES
Blast At Matford Works
And Pre-War Ford Fac
tory At Poissy
By The Associated Press
LONDON, Friday. April 3—The
Royal Air Force’s heavy bombers
struck for the second straight
night at the Nazi-directed Mat
ford automotive works outside
Paris, while British ground crews
struggled against a terrific Ger
man air attack along the south
eastern English coast.
British fliers had dropped leaf
lets over Paris warning the French
they were coming back again after
their destructive raid last month
on the Renault tank and automo
tive plant working to supply the
Nazi eastern front armies.
An informed British source indi
ca1" ' today that the second strike
at the Matford works was lighter
than Wednesday night’s attack,
but said the British “got in some
good licks.”
The German counter-attack on
Britain’s coastal defense belt was
the worst yet experienced by some
townsmen there who had weather
ed the heavy 1940 blows. A num
Vr of persons were killed and
wounded. Others were buried in
their wrecked homes.
(By The Associated Press)
LONDON April 2.—Back again
aver the suburbs cf Paris and into
aorth and northwest Germany, the
RAF blasted early today at the
Matford Works, pre-war Ford fac
tory at Poissy and at the Reich’s
railroad network which is pouring
munitions toward the Russian
front
Fifteen bomber* were missing
Erom these far-ranging raids, in
terpreted authoritatively here as
pimarily blows to assist Russia,
rhe Paris factories are reported
(Continued on Pace Five; Coh ti